When a semiconductor device or the like is to be produced, in order to transfer a pattern of a reticle as a mask to each shot region on a wafer (or glass plate or the like) as a substrate on which a photoresist is applied, a projection exposing apparatus such as a stepper is used. In the projection exposing apparatus, image forming characteristics of a projection optical system are gradually varied due to variation in exposure dose of exposure light and variation in ambient atmospheric pressure. Hence, in order to always maintain the image forming characteristics in a desired condition, the projection exposing apparatus includes an image forming characteristic correcting mechanism which corrects the image forming characteristics by controlling a position of a partial optical member constituting the projection optical system. Image forming characteristics that can be corrected by a conventional image forming characteristic correcting mechanism are rotationally symmetric low order elements such as distortion aberration and magnification.
In order to enhance resolution of specific pattern, exposing apparatuses of recent years use, in some cases, illumination conditions in which exposure light does not pass through a region which includes an optical axis on a pupil plane of the illumination optical system. Examples of such illumination conditions are a so-called zone illumination method and a four-pole illumination method (illumination method using four regions on a pupil plane of the illumination optical system as secondary light sources). In this case, optical members in the projection optical system which are close to the pupil plane are illuminated with exposure light except their central portion areas. In order to increase an area of a pattern which can be transferred without increasing the projection optical system in size, a scanning exposing type projection exposing apparatus such as a scanning stepper is also frequently used recently. In the case of the scanning exposing type, a reticle is illuminated with light in a rectangular illumination region whose scanning direction is equal to its short side direction. Therefore, in the case of optical members in the projection optical system which are close to a reticle and wafer, regions thereof which are non-rotationally symmetric are mainly illuminated with exposure light.
In such an exposing apparatus, there is an adverse possibility that a high order component such as a high order spherical aberration in the image forming characteristics of the projection optical system is varied or non-rotationally symmetric aberration is varied. Hence, there is proposed a projection exposing apparatus which can suppress such variations (see patent documents 1 and 2 for example).
[Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. H10-64790
[Patent document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. H10-50585